5 Ft Discus Plant Tank

[ywl]

This is my humble tank . Still trying to fill up the left side with plants as it still looks kind of bare. Just feel there is something better can be done but simple cannot figure out how. Comments and suggestions are welcome.











This tank is about 18 months and some rescape has been done . The discus have been with me ranging from 2-3 years.However the stress lines still show up after all these years in the plant tank .

[eddy planer]

wow that beauitful..I love that!

Mind ask you, what is the water's temperature? Discus are extremely sensitive in their surrounding.

[ywl]

Thanks , I keep the temperature around 28 degrees. I used to have a lot of white spots and external parasites problem every few weeks . After installing any external UV lamp , all problems were wiped out .The white spots and fungus were gone for more than a year now . For internal digestive problem , I medical with Metro antibotics occassionally but its not a garantee cure .

[ervinelin]

Oooo nice... it looks pretty deep? 2.5ft?

[ywl]

Yes it is 2.5 feet deep, i have problem cleaning the bottom .Its breaking my back every time I need to rescape .

[acc]

wow beautiful!

[ywl]

some updates....more plants to the right side of tank .....

[xiaochew]

one word -beautiful.

[BT Lee]

Wow! very nice tank, YWL.

I am also thinking of planting my 5 ft discu tank.

Can you share with us your tank spec and setup

Size ( LXWXH )
Lighting (type and power )
Substrate
Filtration
CO2
Cooling
Fertilizer type and routine
Water Change routine

Cheers!

BT Lee

[jasonchua1982]

Wah...very nice Discus planted tank setup bro !

Thanks for sharing

[ywl]

Thanks to all for viewing , this is the spec for a simple setup.

Size :5x2x2.5

Lighting (type and power )

Aaqazonic T5 HO , 54X4 . 3 tube change half yearly . 1 tube changed yearly . 8.5 hrs.


Substrate : Lapis Sand

Filtration:
1 X 18W submerged power head filter - pump into UV ,9W
1 X 18W to overhead filter ( only run from 1 am to 4 pm when lights are off )

CO2: 5-7 b/s feed into pump outlet .

Cooling- Fan x24 hr

Fertilizer type and routine:
Lush gro 2 cap alternate day.
Iron tablets form Pharmacy for human consumption , insert into sand and pop into tank about 10 small tablets, 2 weekly.

Water Change routine - Half tank weekly + Nutra fin water conditioner

UV 9 W - 24 hr ( important for discus to be free from external parasite IMO)

[BT Lee]

Dear YWL,

Thanks for sharing.
The photo explain a lot as well.

OK, what a coincident, I have the same tank size as yours and I so happen to have 4X54 watt HOT5 I plan to use for the tank.
Cooling also planning to use a 5" ac fan.
Just bought a 2nd hand UV looks like yours too ( 36 watt ).
Will use it as well.

However filter will be using a sump and CO2 injection will be via reactor at the sump.
Now still working on the flow rate of reactor to increase CO2 level in tank.
Has managed to reduce much CO2 loss by reducing turbulance at inflow into sump, so CO2 loss will be less of a concern.

I am surprise to note that you turn off the filter on top of the tank.
Will the bacterial colony be effected?
As to the in tank filter, is it sponge connected to pump?

Will copy your use of substrate and fertilizer dosing routine.

Your success has been most inspiring for me.
Hope will set up my tank soon with confidence.

Oop! forget to ask you an important question.
How is the feeding for the discus?

Again, many thanks!

Cheers!

BT Lee

[tco]

Nice tank bro, for your substrate any base fertilizer or only purely sand?
Notice that your light set is shorter then the length of your tank, is it a 4 ft lights? you might want to get something to secure the light set as a bit scary if it drop into the tank.

[rayade76]

bro, nice set up . but discus getting skinny . keep up the good work .

[ywl]

BT Lee,

Yes, i did a trial by turning off the pump during photosynthesis to reduce CO2 lost and it think it works, has been doing so for > 1 yr now.Changing over head filter is so much less work compared to internal filters as discus has a big Bio load.There is no submerged filter for overhead pump.

I have a sponge filter link to the UV pump , I change it by monitoring the flow through the rain Bar .

Food : Mostly blood worm washed to drain off blood .
Current I use dry food soak with Anti botics( Metro) as there is a attack of internal parasites due likely due to bad fish food from the autofeeder during the oversea trip.

As rayade76 pointed one of the discus is skinny. it just survived an internal parasite ordeal and has now recovered after Metro treatment but has lost much mass.
It has begain eating again but its not a sure win battle. I lose discus every now and then too .


TCO ,

I used to insert root monster about 1 yr back , now I only use iron tablets. Maybe the root monster is still working ....i hope .

The legs of the 4 feet lights are all fastened with cable tight to the glass support . I agree it would be unthinkable if it drops into the tank .

[BT Lee]

Dear YWL,

Thanks for the further information.
My current tank ( no plant yet ) has contineous flow arrangement for water change with about 500 litre of new water from tap over 24 hrs.
Has been keeping about 15 matured discus plus 9 large clown loach 6 inches) and 6 large pakistani loach (4 inches) and 5 matured cory.
Fedding poke heart heavily twice a day.
Sump filter arrangement.
Water quality is very good for discus and never have a sick fish for more than 2 years.
When I plant it later, I hope to continue to use this method of water change if I can get cheap enought source of fertilizer.

Cheers!

BT Lee

[ywl]

BT,

I am not sure if my method is sufficient to sustain your tank as you have much more fish . I have only 9 discus now but the bioload seems too much already .Maybe you can consult the other bro here who has better knowledge.

Why don't you post a pic of your tank and share with us ?

[BT Lee]

Hahaha, shy to post the bare tank lah.
Light also not ready yet.
Will surely post it when I get the light ready.

Actually, my worry has always been about planting and light sufficiency because of the height of the tank.
Seeing your tank gives me a lot of confidence to go forward and try it.
I can do contineous flow water change to reduce the NO3 and hopefully PO4 as well.
If algae is still a big problem, then give up.

Cheers!

BT Lee

[lyan]

Nice distribution of plants. Care not to add any more, if not fishes cannot swim and get stuck. 2nd, plants not enough light with rot behind and you will be very busy clean up weekly. Good job to your successful planning.

[Sunflower]

IMHO, I like the look after additions of plants, it makes your tank compact, adding depth, not so empty like the previous setting. Awesome.